Blog2018AprilTAH Auxiliary hosts annual luncheon, gives two local students scholarships

Apr 19, 2018

TAH Auxiliary hosts annual luncheon, gives two local students scholarships

Posted By
Mary Hill Herald Staff Writer

Although the weather was cold and brisk for mid-April, members of the Titusville
Area Hospital Auxiliary gathered for their annual spring luncheon Wednesday
at Cross Creek Resort.

Following the lunch, scholarship committee chair Nancy Brown announced
the winners of the scholarships: Emily Niedbala and MacKenzie Davis.

Brown said she, along with Amy Felton and Rick Clark, interviewed 15 high
school students this year.

“We had 16 applicants,” Brown said during her speech. “One
young lady from West Forest was unable to come for an interview because
of being in a body cast. We interviewed one young lady at Titusville High
School on March 12 because she was going to a conference on the day of
our interviews.”

She added that the committee, on March 15, interviewed three young ladies
and one young man from Maplewood High School and seven young ladies and
three young men from Titusville High School.

“It was a difficult choice for us to come up with the two who would
receive our scholarships because all of them were extremely well qualified,”
Brown said. “This year, we had the most applicants for scholarships.
After some discussion, we chose Emily and MacKenzie.”

Emily is a student at Titusville High School, and is third in her class.
She is a daughter of Jeffrey and Stacie Niedbala.

Emily will be attending the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus,
and she wants to become a human genetics researcher/doctor.

During her high school career, she has been on the high honor roll throughout
all the school terms; and is a member of the National Honor Society, Academic
Challenge Club, drama club, dance competition team, marching band, Clarion
Math Competition, and Envirothon.

Emily has participated in theatre productions, lead in the church Christmas
program, vacation Bible school and youth theatre camp.

She has been employed at Little Caesars from May 2016 to the present.

Brown said MacKenzie, the second recipient of the auxiliary’s scholarship,
was not able to attend the luncheon due to participating in State Chorus.
Mackenzie is a student at Maplewood High School, and is 10th in her class.
She is a daughter of Gary and Doris Davis.

MacKenzie will be attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and she
wants to be a speech pathologist.

During high school, she has been on the high honor roll and honor roll,
and is a member of the National Honor Society, chorus, vocal ensemble,
Key Club, Leadership Council, student council, prom committee and the
gifted program with classes at Allegheny College.

She has participated in 10 productions with the French Creek Community
Theatre, four productions with the Meadville Academy Theatre, singing
at Titusville and Oil City Rehabilitation centers and Riparian Zone trips,
and was also the lead in Maplewood’s recent dinner theatre production.

MacKenzie has worked for five years at Supremely Clean, as well as baby-sitting jobs.

“We are pleased to give the scholarships to these young ladies,”
Brown said. “We know they will represent us well.”

Following Brown’s presentation of the scholarships, auxiliary President
Doneva Hyde introduced guest speaker, Holli Wolfe, director of marketing
and foundation at TAH.

Wolfe said she appreciated the auxiliary members for their volunteer work
at the hospital.

She said she began working at TAH in May 2017. Prior to joining TAH, she
was employed at Warren General Hospital for 10 years, and HealthSouth
for two years.

Wolfe said TAH “is a great hospital. It feels like home.”

She said in the past year, the hospital has won many awards, including
one for patient satisfaction, and TAH is rated a five-star hospital.

Wolfe added that the hospital was recently ranked in the top 25 percent
in patient satisfaction for critical care hospitals across the country.

She also discussed the improvements being made in the emergency room.

Wolfe said that overall wait time in the ER has decreased by 13 percent;
and added that the wait time, from the time a patient enters the ER until
he or she sees a physician) is currently 19 minutes.

She also spoke about the Capital Campaign to renovate the ER.

“We raised $285,000 in the ER campaign (to date),” Wolfe said.

She said the renovation project is expected to start in late fall.

Wolfe said the hospital applied for rural health clinic status for doctor’s
offices and with that status, TAH would receive higher reimbursements.

“Meadville Medical Center has helped out a lot,” she said.
MMC owns Titusville Area Hospital and Wolfe said MMC has provided TAH
with physicians who specialize in specific health areas, for example,
a cardiologist from MMC sees patients at TAH.

Following her presentation, Wolfe took questions from the audience including
one person who asked where patients will be seen during renovations to the ER.

Wolfe said the first phase of the renovations will not affect patient flow.
However, once the other phases of the renovations begin, she said patients
will be seen in the one-day surgery area.

After Wolfe’s speech, Hyde announced that Eleanor Hopkins is the
auxiliary’s Volunteer of the Year. Hopkins will be honored, along
with Titusville’s other outstanding volunteers, during the Titusville
Area Chamber of Commerce Volunteer Recognition Luncheon on Monday, beginning
at noon, in Scheide Hall at First Presbyterian Church, corner of Walnut
and Franklin streets.

Hyde also presented new pins to those who volunteer in the snack shop,
escort desk and floor service. The new snack shop pins are adorned with
a spoon, fork and knife; and the escort desk and floor service volunteers
received pins that included a “helping hands” symbol.

TAH Auxiliary members spent more than 7,000 hours volunteering their time
at TAH from April 2017 through March of this year.